Intravenous catheter apparatus



April 13, 1967 T. P. STAFFORD INTRAVENO US CATHETER APPARATUS Filed Sept. 28, 1964 l/V l/'N TOR moms R m #000 FIG. 3.

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United States Patent 3,314,427 INTRAVENOUS CATHETER APPARATUS Thomas P. Stafford, Glendale, Calif., assignor to Don Baxter Inc., Glendale, Calif., a corporation of Nevada Filed Sept. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 399,547 1 Claim. (Cl. 128214.4)

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 267,672, filed Mar. 25, 1963, now Patent No. 3,219,036. 4

This invention relates to an improved intravenous catheter apparatus for medical use and more specifically to an intravenous catheter apparatus wherein a catheter is encased by a removable flexible bag or sterility cover prior to application to a patient.

For some time there has been a problem of providing a flexible bag in an intravenous catheter apparatus that was easy to remove to gain access to the catheter. It is desirable to be able to remove the flexible bag with very little twisting, tugging, tearing, etc. because the flexible bag is removed from the intravenous catheter apparatus while a cannula portion is in a patients vein. Yet, on the other hand, the flexible bag must not slip off during storing, shipping, or sterilizing.

It is an object of this invention to provide a flexible bag cover in an intravenous catheter apparatus that will not break loose during storing, shipping, or sterilizing but which is easy to remove when a nurse or physician applies the catheter apparatus to a patient.

Another object of this invention is to provide an intravenous catheter apparatus with a flexible bag that a physician or nurse can easily remove with one hand to gain access to an intravenous catheter.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent upon further description of the invention and the following illustrations in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the intravenous catheter apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary front elevation showing a flexible bag and a hub supporting a cannula connected to an adapter;

FIGURE 2a is a fragmentary front elevation showing a modification in which the cannula is permanently secured to the adapter;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the flexible bag or sterility cover;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a side view of the intravenous catheter apparatus installed in a patients arm;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of the flexible bag attached to the adapter with adhesive means;

FIGURE 7 shows an enlarged fragmentary front elevational view of a modification in the flexible bag structure; and

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG- URE 2 showing how the adhesive means holds the flexible bag to the adapter.

Referring now to the drawings, the intravenous catheter apparatus includes an adapter 2 with a bore through which catheter 1 is longitudinally slideable. As shown in FIGURE 2, a hollow cannula 7 is removably connected through a hub 17 to a tubular portion 8 of adapter 2 and carries within its bore a portion of catheter 1. A protector 4 encases the cannula 7 prior to use. Alternatively, as shown in the modification in FIGURE 2a, the cannula 7 can be permanently connected to the tubular portion 8 of adapter 2 by an adhesive 19, as for example according to the Hamilton Patent No. 2,989,053.

Encasing catheter 1 is a flexible bag 5. Flexible bag 5 includes a tubular wall 11 that extends from a first open 3,314,427 Patented Apr. 18, 1967 I end 12 with its mouth 13 surrounded by lip 14 to a second closed end 16 which may be closed, for example, by a heat seal 6. Mouth 13 of flexible bag 5 fits over an exterior surface 10 of adapter 2.

This adapter 2 preferably has an exterior surface 10 which is generally rectangular in its lateral cross-section as shown in FIGURE 4, and which tapers laterally inwardly toward adapter end 9 that fits within flexible bag 5. This taper makes the flexible bag easy to assemble to adapter 2 and likewise easy to remove from the adapter. Also, in the preferred embodiment, the adapter has a depth less than its width so as to provide a wide low profile that is easily taped to a patient, as in FIGURE 5, by tape 18 without digging into the patients arm and causing discomfort.

Flexible bag 5 is held onto the exterior surface 10 of adapter 2 by a unique structure. Adjacent the first open end 12 of flexible bag 5 is a wall opening 15. Adhesive means 3 adheres to the exterior surface 10 of adapter 2 within a predetermined area defined by wall opening 15 and to the bag wall 11 near the wall opening '15.

Wall opening 15 may have various configurations. For example, it may be a hole in the flexible bag wall 11, which hole is near but spaced from lip 14 as shown in FIGURE 3. Also, the wall opening 15 could be a slot in wall 11 of the bag which extends to said lip 14, as shown in FIGURE 7. The number of wall openings 15 may comprise only a single opening, such as shown in FIGURES 3 and 6, or may comprise a plurality of wall openings as shown in FIGURE 7.

A number of adhesive means 3 can be used to hold flexible bag 5 onto the exterior surface 10 of adapter 2. A short strip or tab of adhesive tape applied to the bag wall 11 over wall opening 15 works very well. However, it is preferred that an adhesive tape band completely encircle the flexible bag adjacent the wall opening 15 because such a band keeps the flexible bag from stretching or cold flowing near the flexible bag opening end 12 when fitted on adapter 2. The adhesive means 3 need not be in tape form but can be in a paste or liquid form placed within wall opening 15 so as to adhere to the adapters exterior surface 15 exposed by wall opening 15 and also to adhere to the flexible bag wall 11 adjacent wall opening 15.

The adapter 2 may be made of thermoplastic materials and the number and areas of wall openings 15 can be varied to compensate for the holding power of the adhesive used and the various slicknesses of thermoplastic materials such as polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, nylon, Delrin, etc. Preferably, the flexible bag 5 is of a transparent thermoplastic as, for example, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, etc.

The catheter apparatus is manufactured and assembled as shown in FIGURE 1, whereafter it is sterilized and then shipped to hospitals and doctors oflices. When a physician determines that a patient requires a prolonged parenteral liquid administration and that an intravenous catheterization is needed, he takes the catheter apparatus as shown in FIGURE 5. Next he removes flexible bag hypodermic needle 7. Next he inserts cannula 7 into a patients vein and by manipulations through flexible bag 5 he urges the catheter 1 down through the bores of adapter 2 and cannula 7 until it is in the patients vein as shown in FIGURE 5. Next he removes flexible bag 5 by squeezing the adapter 2 out of the first open end 12 of flexible bag 5. This simultaneously breaks the adhesive bond between the bag wall 11 and adapter 2. Removing the bag in this manner can easily be done with one hand, leaving the other hand free to stop any bleeding that might occur around the venipuncture. Finally, a parenteral liquid source is connected to catheter 1 and the adapter 2 secured to the patient by tape 18.

I have shown specific embodiments of my invention merely as illustrations. It is understood that those skilled in the art can make certain changes in these specific embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

In a sterilely encased intravenous catheter apparatus including a hollow adapter with an end portion carrying a pointed cannula and having a catheter axially slideable through the hollow adapter and cannula, the improvement of a means for gaining easy access to thecatheter comprising the combination of:

(a) an elongated tubular bag having one end closed and having an open mouth at an opposite end, said tubular bag having an opening in a wall thereof, which opening extends between inner and outer surfaces of the bag wall and is located adjacent the bags open mouth;

(b) a tapered outer surface of an adapter which wedges into the open mouth of the tubular bag and engages the bags inner surface, said adapters tapered outer surface being spaced from the cannula-carrying end portion of the adapter; and

(c) an adhesive tape band encircling the exterior surface of said tubular bag adjacent its mouth, said adlongitudinal axis thus giving access to the encased catheter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,287,804 12/1918 Weiss 22971 1,596,972 8/1926 Hogan 229-71 2,891,546 6/1959 Galloway 128295 3,055,361 9/1962 Ballard 128-214 3,079,066 2/1963 Roop 229,62 3,157,277 -1 1/ l964 Sorenson 206-632 3,219,036 11/1965 StalTord 128-2 14 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

DALTON L. TRULUCK, Examiner. 

